JANUARY 2023

VOlUME 06 ISSUE 01 JANUARY 2023
Realization of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The Project Manager’s role
1Otome Justin Dafevwakpo,2Azubuike Hope Amadi,3Rashida Bello Anka
1Birmingham City University, United Kingdom
2Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia
3Istanbul University, Turkey
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v6-i1-86

Google Scholar Download Pdf
ABSTRACT

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) have sometimes been referred to as a vision of the future earth in terms of building a better environment for everyone. However, the 17 SDGs are thought to not be achievable by 2030 for several reasons that this study identifies. However, to get a critical and direct response to the realization of these goals, a profession that cuts across all disciplines and has direct involvement in project planning is needed, and project management was chosen for investigation. This article seeks to understand the function of project managers in the actualization of the UN SDGs because it was noticed that, despite how varied project management is in business, government, and NGOs, it hasn't been assigned a clear role. This became necessary because the majority of the SDGs' objectives and the criteria used to assess their success or failure are project-based and largely driven by non-state actors or NGOs. It is crucial to assess the responsibilities, reasons for setbacks, and the extent to which project managers are required to achieve Sustainable Development Goals moving forward.

KEYWORDS:

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations, Project Managers, Project Management

REFERENCES

1) J. D. Sachs, “From millennium development goals to sustainable development goals,” The Lancet, vol. 379, no. 9832, pp. 2206–2211, Jun. 2012, doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60685-0.

2) J. D. Sachs, The Age of Sustainable Development. Columbia University Press, 2015. doi: 10.7312/SACH17314/HTML.

3) D. Griggs et al., “Sustainable development goals for people and planet,” Nature, vol. 495, no. 7441, pp. 305–307, Mar. 2013, doi: 10.1038/495305a.

4) C. Kroll, A. Warchold, and P. Pradhan, “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Are we successful in turning trade-offs into synergies?,” Palgrave Commun, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 1–11, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1057/s41599-019-0335-5.

5) T. J. Kloppenborg and M. S. Baucus, “Project Management in Local Nonprofit Organizations: Engaging Students in Problem-Based Learning,” Journal of Management Education, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 610–629, Jul. 2016, doi: 10.1177/1052562904266008.

6) M. J. B. Kabeyi, “Evolution of Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, with Historical Events and Projects that Have Shaped the Development of Project Management as a Profession,” International Journal of Science and Research, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 68–79, 2018, doi: 10.21275/ART20202078.

7) S. Ajala, “Can SDGs be Achieved in Nigeria before 2030? According to Data, not Likely | Dataphyte,” Dataphyte, Jan. 13, 2022. Accessed: Nov. 11, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://www.dataphyte.com/latest-reports/development/can-sdgs-be-achieved-in-nigeria-before-2030-according-to-data-not-likely/

8) T. Hák, S. Janoušková, and B. Moldan, “Sustainable Development Goals: A need for relevant indicators,” Ecol Indic, vol. 60, pp. 565–573, Jan. 2016, doi: 10.1016/J.ECOLIND.2015.08.003.

9) L. Veselovská, “Factors influencing countries on their path to sustainable development: implications for organizations,” Problems and Perspectives in Management, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 474–485, 2017.

10) United Nations, “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” Newyork, 2015.

11) P. Mansell, S. P. Philbin, and A. Plodowski, “Why project management is critical to achieving the SDGs and how this can be achieved: LSBU Open Research,” in Management Congress 2019, Apr. 2019. Accessed: Nov. 12, 2022. [Online]. Available: https://openresearch.lsbu.ac.uk/item/866y9

12) A. Galli, G. Đurović, L. Hanscom, and J. Knežević, “Think globally, act locally: Implementing the sustainable development goals in Montenegro,” Environ Sci Policy, vol. 84, pp. 159–169, Jun. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2018.03.012.

13) D. Adshead, S. Thacker, L. I. Fuldauer, and J. W. Hall, “Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals through long-term infrastructure planning,” Global Environmental Change, vol. 59, p. 101975, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2019.101975.

14) D. Griggs et al., “Sustainable development goals for people and planet,” Nature, vol. 495, pp. 305–307, Mar. 2013, Accessed: Nov. 12, 2022. [Online]. Available: www.cbd.int/sp/

15) W. Easterly, “UN’s New Sustainable Development Goals: ,” OromianEconomist, Sep. 29, 2015. https://oromianeconomist.com/tag/uns-new-sustainable-development-goals/ (accessed Nov. 15, 2022).

16) O. O. Oleribe and S. D. Taylor-Robinson, “Before Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): why Nigeria failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Commentary Open Access,” Pan African Medical Journal-ISSN, vol. 24, no. 156, pp. 1–4, 2016, doi: 10.11604/pamj.2016.24.156.8447.

17) P. B. Shobayo and L. O. Elumah, “Evaluating the Role of Project Management on Sustainable Development,” Pakistan Research Journal of Management Sciences, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 64–69, Jun. 2017, Accessed: Nov. 15, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317871777_Evaluating_the_Role_of_Project_Management_on
_Sustainable_Development

18) S. Armenia, R. M. Dangelico, F. Nonino, and A. Pompei, “Sustainable Project Management: A Conceptualization-Oriented Review and a Framework Proposal for Future Studies,” Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 9, p. 2664, May 2019, doi: 10.3390/su11092664.

19) J. Magano, G. Silvius, C. S. e Silva, and Â. Leite, “The contribution of project management to a more sustainable society: Exploring the perception of project managers,” Project Leadership and Society, vol. 2, p. 100020, Dec. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.plas.2021.100020.

20) D. Goedknegt, “Sustainability in Project Management A case study at University of Applied Sciences Utrecht,” PM World Journal Sustainability in Project Management, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 1–18, 2012, Accessed: Nov. 15, 2022. [Online]. Available: http://www.happyprojects.at/

21) A. G. Chofreh, F. A. Goni, M. N. Malik, H. H. Khan, and J. J. Klemeš, “The imperative and research directions of sustainable project management,” J Clean Prod, vol. 238, p. 117810, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117810.

22) A. J. Gilbert Silvius, M. Kampinga, S. Paniagua, and H. Mooi, “Considering sustainability in project management decision making; An investigation using Q-methodology,” International Journal of Project Management, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 1133–1150, Aug. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.01.011.

23) N. Wang, S. Yao, G. Wu, and X. Chen, “The role of project management in organisational sustainable growth of technology-based firms,” Technol Soc, vol. 51, pp. 124–132, Nov. 2017, doi: 10.1016/J.TECHSOC.2017.08.004.

24) H. Daneshpour, “Integrating Sustainable Development into Project Portfolio Management through Application of Open Innovation,” Optimal Management Strategies in Small and Medium Enterprises, pp. 370–387, Jan. 2017, doi: 10.4018/978-1-5225-1949-2.CH017.

25) A. J. G. Silvius and R. P. J. Schipper, “Sustainability in Project Management Competencies: Analyzing the Competence Gap of Project Managers,” Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, vol. 2014, no. 02, pp. 40–58, May 2014, doi: 10.4236/JHRSS.2014.22005.

26) D. Goedknegt and G. A. J. Silvius, “The implementation of sustainability principles in project management,” in 26th IPMA World Congress, Greece, Jan. 2012, pp. 1–10. Accessed: Dec. 14, 2022. [Online].
Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313505433_The_implementation_of_sustainability_principles
_in_project_management

27) H. Helgadóttir, “The ethical dimension of project management,” International Journal of Project Management, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 743–748, Oct. 2008, doi: 10.1016/J.IJPROMAN.2007.11.002.

28) R. Borg, R. Dalli Gonzi, and S. Borg, “Building Sustainably: A Pilot Study on the Project Manager’s Contribution in Delivering Sustainable Construction Projects—A Maltese and International Perspective,” Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 23, p. 10162, Dec. 2020, doi: 10.3390/su122310162.

29) J. Grainger-Brown and S. Malekpour, “Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals: A Review of Strategic Tools and Frameworks Available to Organisations,” Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 5, p. 1381, Mar. 2019, doi: 10.3390/su11051381.

30) V. Carragher and H. O’reilly, “Piloting Innovative Approaches in Sustainable Communities towards Achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in Ireland,” Wexford, Ireland, May 2021. Accessed: Nov. 18, 2022. [Online]. Available: www.epa.ie

VOlUME 06 ISSUE 01 JANUARY 2023

Indexed In

Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar Avatar